Auburn knocks off O’Dea in Hardwood Invite semis, setting up championship showdown with Garfield
This trend could become habit-forming for the Auburn Trojans.
An undefeated team enters the Trojans atmosphere, and Auburn sends it home with a first loss. For the second consecutive night, the Trojans handed a good team its first defeat on Monday.
The Trojans outlasted previously unbeaten O’Dea in the semifinals of the inaugural Hardwood Invite, 80-74, on Monday at Auburn High to advance to Tuesday’s championship game. The win came on the heels of Sunday’s quarterfinal victory over Ferris, which also was undefeated prior to meeting the Trojans.
Auburn will face a third straight undefeated team for the title in the defending 3A state champs from Garfield. The Bulldogs earned their spot in the title game with a 63-50 win over South Medford.
“I think this is the game that people wanted to see,” Auburn coach Ryan Hansen said. “We’re excited for the opportunity. We feel like we belong in a game like this, so we’re excited to go out and see what happens.”
Both teams likely will hope they shoot the ball better than they did in the semifinals. Garfield struggled early, still had a deficit after three quarters, and only a big 3-pointer from Tremaine Guidry with 3 minutes, 8 seconds left to play finally put some distance between it and the Panthers.
For Auburn, which made 13 3-pointers in the quarterfinal rout of Ferris, the ball simply did not want to fall from distance against the Irish. Leading scorer Kaden Hansen made only three field goals all night, despite several open looks that careened off the rim.
Hansen did make the two free throws with 14.1 seconds left to extend the lead to 79-74 and finally put O’Dea away. He finished with nine points.
“They’re a great team,” Coach Hansen said. “They’re physical and they get after it defensively. I’m proud of the way we executed through that physicality.”
Leading the charge, senior wing Maleek Arington put the Trojans offense on his back. Auburn extended to a 50-34 advantage on a Tre Blasingame basket with 6:37 to play in the third quarter, seemingly taking control of the contest.
But O’Dea fought back, even as Arington scored the final 11 points of the quarter for the Trojans en route to his game-high 30. Auburn still led it handily, 64-51, entering the fourth quarter.
“All our guys got into foul trouble early,” Arington said. “So, I felt like I had to step up and score the ball, honestly. I’m usually like the facilitator, and I had to step up and play a big part in this tough ‘Dub’ that we got.”
The victory became tough thanks to some instant offense off the bench for the Irish from Quincy Linton, who made the final O’Dea basket in the third quarter, then added consecutive 3-pointers midway into the fourth.
Owen Moriarty took over from there, scoring the final six points of the game for O’Dea, including a three-point play with 1:05 left that closed the gap to 77-74.
The Irish then got a stop on an offensive foul call with just under 40 seconds to play, but turned the ball over on a potential game-tying possession, getting called for travelling.
That circumstance forced O’Dea to foul Hansen with 14 seconds left – and he made both. They were part of a 16-for-18 performance from the line in the second half for Auburn, which made only two field goals in the final eight minutes.
““They’re tough defensively,” Coach Hansen said. “Fortunately, we were able to get to the free throw line and knock them down.”
Covid An Issue Here, Too
As the NHL postponements continue to expand, including the Seattle Kraken’s second straight game (Tuesday against Arizona), organizers of the Hardwood Invite have been dealing with similar issues. Again on Monday, Federal Way and Nathan Hale could not play due to the protocols.
That meant that Silas and Westview (Ore.) advanced without playing. Those two teams play each other Tuesday morning.